Dreams and Reality
by Surrah
Summary: When dreams of Jack's past threaten his sanity, plans for Holloween may be in danger as well...
1. Moonlight and the Mayor

_My official disclaimer: TNBC and all such characters (c) Tim Burton. He's the man and I wouldn't steal anything from him. Characters that may appear in later chapters are mine, mind you._

Chapter 1:

Moonlight and the Mayor

Jack stared out his tower window, his eyeless sockets adjusting to the gloom. He had just awoken after having a particularly strange dream that he had dreamt several times previous, though now he could not recall what it was about. The pale moonlight streamed in, casting deformed and demonic shadows on the floor and walls. It startled him how much it creeped him out. He'd been dead for almost ten years now, and had adjusted well to the odd nature of Halloweentown. But something about this dream had him shaken and he couldn't explain why.

Zero lifted his head groggily from his little cushion in the corner as his master climbed out of bed and walked toward the window. Below, Jack could see the buildings of town, its crazily winding streets, and a few dimly lit streetlamps. He turned to his faithful ghost dog.

"What could this dream mean, Zero?" he asked

The dog only gave a soft, confused yip.

"It's the fifth time in two weeks," he went on. "It feels like a memory, but it doesn't seem to be all that familiar. Like a strange feeling of déjà vu."

He sat on the edge of the bed, drew his legs up and set his skull in his hand. He was feeling rather frustrated that he couldn't remember or figure this dream out and why it kept repeating itself. He didn't think he would be able to go back to sleep, either.

Before long, the orange glow of dawn crept into the tower. Jack looked up, squinting, from his sprawled position on the floor. Indeed, he _had _fallen asleep again, while he was sitting there certain that sleep would evade him, and had fallen off the bed.

A ringing sound, intertwined with a scream, caused him to jump. The doorbell. _Why am I so jittery_, he thought as he slipped into his clothes.

The doorbell rang again. Jack could hear an almost annoyingly cheerful voice drifting up from the front door.

"Jack? You home?"

Jack sighed and headed down the tower stairs to meet with the Mayor of Halloweentown. Again.

At the front door, the Mayor's drastically happy face had spun about to the side with a look of perpetual distress. Where was Jack? Maybe he wasn't home. What was he to do then? He looked up to the tower, and seeing nothing, he knocked loudly on the door.

"Jack? Where are you?!" he called up to the tower.

Suddenly, the door opened. There stood Jack, more than twice the squat Mayor's height.

"I'm right here," Jack said, rubbing the back of his skull. "You don't have to yell."

The Mayor's face stayed upset for a moment, looking Jack up and down, just to make sure it _was_ Jack. Indeed it was, so again the face whirled to the happy side, with its ridiculous smile and spiraled eye.

"Halloween's in a week, Jack," he said cheerfully. But then, his head spun back around, now looking worried. "We're still five pumpkins short for the jack-o-lantern display. I've looked everywhere and there just aren't any more!"

Jack thought for a moment. The Mayor's constant perfectionism was starting to wear on his nerves. Five pumpkins? Five measly pumpkins and the Mayor was getting himself all worked up into an absolute fit. If Jack didn't say anything, tensions would explode. He sighed heavily.

"Mayor, I'm sure five pumpkins won't make that much of a difference," he said tiredly. "Just rearrange the display so it won't be so noticeable."

Now it was the Mayor's turn to think for a moment. Rearrange the display? But he had it all worked out _this _way. Rearranging it might further complicate things, and right now, things were complicated enough. He looked up at Jack, and Jack could tell he was thinking hard about what to say.

"Well, Jack, I just don't know…but we can work something out…"

And so it went for the rest of the morning, making, fixing, and adjusting plans for the upcoming Halloween.

Jack tried hard to concentrate, but thoughts of his disturbing dream kept creeping into his head like winding tendrils of an illusive mist. He tried and tried again to clear them out, all to no avail. His frustration ever increasing, he finally began making excuses just to get the emotionally distraught Mayor out of his house. After much convincing, subtle gestures, and irritation, Jack finally won out.

_Surrah (c) 2007. My rights reserved, so there. Except as I stated before, TNBC is not mine. But wouldn't it be cool if it was?_


	2. The Accident

-1Chapter 2:

The Accident

After the Mayor finally left, Jack climbed the stairs up to his tower, to further contemplate his strange and disturbing dream. But as he tried to recall its events, his mind drew a blank, and the harder he tried, the blanker it got.

He sat, slumped at his desk, feeling frustrated and even more confused, until Zero floated up to him wanting to play.

"No, down," he said. "I'm not in the mood right now."

Zero floated over to the window, and looked down at all of his favorite places to sniff and play. He looked back over to where Jack sat, his back to him, hunched over with his skull in his hands. Zero could tell something was bothering his master and wished to provide a distraction. So, he drifted back to Jack and looked pleadingly up at him.

Jack raised his head and looked down at his faithful companion, then looked outside at the gloomy day. It _was_ a nice day for a walk, and maybe getting out of the house might help him think a little better.

"Well, Zero, you've convinced me," he finally said. "It's a good thing I have you around to keep an eye on me," he rose. "or I might sit up here for weeks, obsessing over dreams that I can't even remember."

Jack decided to take their stroll to the cemetery, one of his favorite places. Zero enjoyed it too, because there were so many things to sniff and so many places to poke around in.

Jack headed for Spiral Hill, an oddly shaped mound of earth that rolled forward like a wave, then curled under into a spiral. Hence, its name. From the top, one could view the town, the cemetery, and the vast pumpkin patch in all its horrid panoramic splendor.

He climbed to the top, admiring the view, Zero at his heels. Since this was his favorite place to think, he again tried to recall his dream. Now and again he caught a flash of something, but could never hold onto it. Suddenly, one image stuck in his mind: the moon. What was that supposed to mean? The moon? The moon was out at night, but the connection ended there for him. And what did it have to do with this dream? Annoyed, he headed back into town.

In the town square, goblins, ghouls, ghosts, and vampires frantically ran about, trying to get things set up for Halloween. This was the most hectic time of the year for Halloweentown, especially the week before.

A drippy creature walked by, pushing a wheelbarrow full of skulls. A vampire sorted this year's awards while trying to shoo away curious children. Several ghosts were hanging a large banner on the front of Town Hall. And in the midst of this was the Mayor, his ridiculously tall hat marking his position like a flag, his face constantly spinning to convey his frantic emotions. He hurried over as soon as he spotted Jack.

"Well, what do you think?" he asked, currently cheerful. But when Jack didn't answer immediately, the face whirled around, looking worried.

Jack brought his mind back to the present, as it had wandered again. He looked around at the bustling town square.

"It looks absolutely terrifying!" he said, trying to sound excited, but the tone held an underlying note of depression. Luckily, the Mayor didn't notice.

The Mayor's face spun around again, the manic smile plastered on like there was no tomorrow. He climbed up on a crate, slapped Jack on the back, and continued shouting directions to the townspeople.

Jack admired the stout Mayor's ability to keep order in such a chaotic time. He turned to go back home when he though he heard someone shout "Jack, look out!" He turned to see what it was he was to look out for, but not fast enough. Something hard connected with the side of his skull and all went dark.


End file.
